Men{3 s travel kit

ABSTRACT

A travel kit having a bottom wall member, a pair of opposite sidewall members, a pair of end wall members, a pair of opposite cover members hinged to the upper portions of the sidewall members, a pair of flexible gussets hinged to the upper portions of the end wall members and connected to the sides of the cover members; the sidwall members, end wall members, cover members and gussets formed of two layers of heat sealable vinyl; a cardboard reinforcement between the vinyl layers of the sidewall members, end wall members and cover members; the bottom wall member having a double layer of heat sealable vinyl with a cardboard reinforcement therebetween, the four edges of the bottom wall member heat sealed to the bottoms of sidewall and end wall members; and a strap and buckle securing the cover members closed, having the ends heat sealed between the sidewall members and the bottom member.

United States Patent 1191 Aronek [54] MENS TRAVEL KIT [75] Inventor: George Aronek, Los Angeles, Calif.

[73] Assignee: American Vinyl Products, Los

Angeles, Calif.

[22] Filed: June 13, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 369,603

Peterson 190/53 Primary Examiner-Herbert F. Ross Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Gilbert L. Wells; Krafft &

Wells 1 1 Feb. 11,1975

[57] ABSTRACT A travel kit having a bottom wall member, a pair of opposite sidewall members, a pair of end wall members, a pair of opposite cover members hinged to the upper portions of the sidewall members, a pair of flexible gussets hinged to the upper portions of the end wall members and connected to the sides of the cover members; the sidwall members, end wall members, cover members and gussets formed of two layers of heat sealable vinyl; a cardboard reinforcement between the vinyl layers of the sidewall members. end wall members and cover members; the bottom wall member having a double layer of heat sealable vinyl with a cardboard reinforcement therebetween, the four edges of the bottom wall member heat sealed to the bottoms of sidewall and end wall members; and a strap and buckle securing the cover members closed. having the ends heat sealed between the sidewall members and the bottom member.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures MENS TRAVEL KIT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of the invention is top opening traveling bags, the method of making and the apparatus therefore.

Top opening traveling bags for men's toilet articles are known in the art as disclosed in US. Pat. Nos. 2,634,836 and 2,783,808 of Warren and Renz et al. These prior art toilet or utility cases are constructed of leather or other expensive materials and require the use ofa high grade zipper which is sewn to the mouth of the leather case. Because of the construction of the prior art cases, they are expensive to produce and require a number of hand operations.

In view of the state of the art, there is a long felt need for an inexpensive mens travel kit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Having in mind the limitations ofthe prior art, it is an object of the present invention to prepare a mens travel kit for toilet articles which is functional, simply constructed and is therefore low in cost.

The object of the present invention is achieved by heat sealing across the top a rectangular sheet of leather-like outer vinyl and a sheet of lining vinyl. A strap retainer slot is cut in the side of the outer vinyl pad. Another outer vinyl lining vinyl construction is prepared and the vertical sides of the two constructions are heat sealed together to form a cylinder open at both ends. The vinyl assembly is turned inside out. A cardboard/- sponge reinforcement having side walls, end walls and cover tabs is inserted between the vinyl layers. The vinyl/cardboard assembly is now stretched over a rectangular die and the unsealed ends of the vinyl are then heat sealed to a bottom assembly of lining vinyl, cardboard and outer vinyl. The ends of a securing strap are also heat sealed between the bottom assembly and the sidewall of the vinyl assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The mens travel kit of the present invention, the method of making and the apparatus therefore may best be described by reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the travel kit of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view along the lines A-A of FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the apparatus used in the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view showingthe final assembly ofthe travel kit and the apparatus of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flow sheet showing the steps of assembly and construction of the travel kit of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the travel kit 4 is shown. The travel kit has a leather-like outer vinyl sheet 6, such as polyvinyl chloride, and a lining vinyl sheet 8. These vinyl sheets are heat sealed at the top along line 10. End walls 12 have a heat sealed vertical seam 14. Side walls 16 and the end walls 12 are heat sealed to a bottom member along seam I8.

Strap 20 has a buckle at one end thereof and is heat sealed in seam 18 at the other end. Slots 24 and 26 in side panel 16 secure the strap 20. A second strap 28 with grommet holes 30 therein is secured to the other side panel as is the strap 20.

Cover panels 32 are hinged at the upper edge of the side panels 16 and gussets 34 connect the sides of the cover panels to the top of the end panels.

As particularly shown in FIG. 2, the end. side. cover and bottom panels have in cross-section an outer vinyl sheet 6, an inner vinyl sheet 8 and therebetween a cardboard and/or cardboard/sponge reinforcement 36.

The apparatus useful in the construction of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3 having stationary bottom platen 38, outer brass plate die 40 consisting of four sheets retained by alligator clamps 42, inner box die 44, upper platen 46 and pneumatic ram 48.

FIG. 4 shows the final assembly of the travel kit where side and top cardboard 1, having panels 56, 58 and 60 is taped to side and top cardboard 2 having panels 62, 64 and 66 along the edges 68 and 70. The cardboard assembly is then inserted into the vinyl assembly between sheets 6 and 8 and the cardboard/vinyl assembly is fitted over inner die 44 with outer die 40 therearound. Edges of vinyl sheet 8 are lapped over die 44 and the edges of vinyl sheet 6 are lapped over die 40.

Inner bottom sheet 50 is placed over the lapped edges and bottom cardboard 52 and outer bottom vinyl sheet 54 are placed thereover.

The bottom is then heat sealed to the sides and ends by upper platen 46. After cooling, the platen 46 is raised by pneumatic ram 48 and the travel kit is removed from the die.

The flow sheet of FIG. 5 shows the method of assem' bly of the travel kit. The outer and lining vinyl sheets are cut to their proper rectangular size. The outer vinyl sheets are heat sealed to the inner vinyl sheets and strap retaining slots are cut in the outer vinyl sheets. A pair of inner/outer vinyl sheets are heat sealed along their edges to form vertical seams at the opposite ends thereof. The straps are inserted in the slots and the vinyl assembly is turned inside out.

The cardboard reinforcement forming the ends, sides and dover is assembled from two pieces. Each piece has a side wall, end wall and a cover panel, all of which are hinged together. A sheet of sponge material such as polyurethene sponge is glued to the cardboard. The two pieces, each having three panels are taped together to form a box open at the bottom but with two cover panels. is

The cardboard reinforcement is inserted between the outer and inner vinyl sheets of the vinyl assembly and the total assembly is placed around the inner die, and the outer die is assembled around the outside. The ends of the vinyl sheets at the bottom of the assembly overlap the dies. A bottom lining vinyl sheet, a bottom cardboard reinforcement and a bottom outer vinyl sheet respectively, are placed over the dies and the bottom is heat sealed to the bottoms of the end and side walls.

A buckle is rivetted to the end of one strap and grommets or eyelets are made in the other strap.

I claim:

l. A travel kit having a bottom wall member, a pair of opposite sidewallmembers, a pair of end wall members, a pair of opposite cover members hinged to the upper portions of the sidewall members, a pair of flexible gussets hinged to the upper portions of said end wall members and connected to the sides of said cover members; said sidewall members, end wall members, cover members and gussets formed of two layers of heat sealable vinyl; a cardboard reinforcement between the vinyl layers of said sidewall members, end wall members and cover members; said bottom wall member having a double layer of heat sealable vinyl with a cardboard reinforcement therebetween, four edges of able vinyl is polyvinyl chloride. 

1. A travel kit having a bottom wall member, a pair of opposite sidewall members, a pair of end wall members, a pair of opposite cover members hinged to the upper portions of the sidewall members, a pair of flexible gussets hinged to the upper portions of said end wall members and connected to the sides of said cover members; said sidewall members, end wall members, cover members and gussets formed of two layers of heat sealable vinyl; a cardboard reinforcement between the vinyl layers of said sidewall members, end wall members And cover members; said bottom wall member having a double layer of heat sealable vinyl with a cardboard reinforcement therebetween, four edges of the bottom wall member heat sealed to the bottom of said sidewall and end wall members; and a strap and buckle securing said cover members closed, having the ends heat sealed between said sidewall members and said bottom each sidewall having a pair of parallel horizontal slots in the outer vinyl layer of said sidewalls midway between the end walls, said strap threaded through slots to retain said strap.
 2. The travel kit of claim 1, having a layer of foam material on said cardboard reinforcement.
 3. The travel kit of claim 1, wherein said heat sealable vinyl is polyvinyl chloride. 